A variety of spinal conditions including, for example, trauma, deformity, disease, or other degenerative conditions, may result in a person experiencing pain or limited physical mobility. This pain and reduced mobility is often attributed to the rupture or degeneration of the intervertebral discs resulting in compression of spinal nerve roots. Existing methods of treating these conditions include surgical decompression of the affected area of the spine, vertebral fusion, and nucleus replacements, with each technique generally requiring different implant devices and instrumentation.
One such technique employs the use of an interspinous implant device which is inserted between the spinous processes to distract or maintain the desired spatial relationship of the adjacent vertebrae. There are a number of limitations of existing interspinous implant devices, including the inability to accommodate the distinct anatomical structures of the spine, to minimize the subsidence and fracture potential, and to be inserted through minimally invasive surgical procedures.
Further, the success of existing methods often depends on the health of the annulus, which may be compromised during the surgical procedure or through the degenerative disc disease process. The annulus may have surgical incisions, tears or be poorly nourished and weak such that it cannot adequately serve, by itself, to restrain an implant device, such as a nucleus replacement device, within the confines of the annulus.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved implant devices positionable at multiple locations between adjacent vertebrae via minimally invasive surgical procedures that alleviate pain and other conditions caused by damage to or degeneration of the spine. Further, there is a need for interspinous and/or interlaminar implant devices able to accommodate the distinct anatomical structures of the spine, to minimize the subsidence and fracture potential, and to be inserted through minimally invasive surgical procedures and, in particular, procedures requiring only a single incision on one side of the spine. Further, there is a need for implant devices which may be utilized to assist in restraining an implant, particularly those that do not have other restraining features, in the intervertebral space.
The present invention may be used to fulfill these, as well as other needs and objectives, as will be apparent from the following description of embodiments of the present invention.